Gabe Newell walked back into the spotlight at The International 2026 in Shanghai this week. Same beard, same black lanyard, same handshake with the Dota 2 faithful. What was different, the internet immediately noticed, was nearly everything else.
Valve’s co-founder and president delivered his annual opening-ceremony video message , a 15-year tradition since the first International in 2011 , from Shanghai, where the main event kicked off Aug. 20 at the Oriental Sports Center. “15 years ago, I had the pleasure of welcoming players and fans to the very first International… 58 players have etched their name on that epic trophy… welcome to The International,” he said in the pre-recorded address that aired to a packed arena.
But it was his appearance that broke the internet. Fans who remembered the heavier, fuller-faced “potato phone” era of 2022 reacted with disbelief. Metro.co.uk ran a weight-loss story on him in April 2024, and by The International 2024 he had unveiled a visibly slimmer look. He was trimmer again at TI 2025, where he joked about Dota players telling him to uninstall weekly. Now, at TI 2026, the transformation is complete: leaner, trimmed beard, proper haircut. The headlines wrote themselves.
“Dude no joke looks like Hugh Jackman now,” PC Gamer reported, echoing a chorus of Reddit reactions. One commenter called him “Hugh Jackman’s cool dad.” Redditor TheMilkman1811 wrote: “I’m so happy he lost all that weight. Probably bought another 10 to 15 years of life with us.” Another dubbed him “Babe Newell.” On YouTube, one viewer wrote: “Live long enough to see Lord Gaben turn to Russell Crowe, while real Russell Crowe becomes Gabe.”
Valve has not commented on the cause of Newell’s weight loss, and fans continue to speculate , everything from a yacht lifestyle to living in New Zealand (“slowly absorbing Australian genes through osmosis,” one redditor joked).
For Filipino gamers, the tournament carried extra weight: an all-Filipino OG roster represented the Philippines as the country’s sole team in Shanghai before being eliminated by GamerLegion. Meanwhile, the Dota 2 world continues to turn , just days before the opening, legendary mid-laner SumaiL announced his retirement from Dota 2 after Nigma Galaxy’s exit at TI.
The Grand Finals are set for Sunday, Aug. 23, with Team Spirit facing Team Vision for the Aegis of Champions. But for now, the loudest highlight of the tournament may be the boss showing up looking like a different person.
